Bellator Champion Zoila Gurgel on the Preliminary Card for Next Weekend’s Show in Ohio

It’s been more than a year since Bellator women’s champion Zoila Gurgel has stepped inside the cage, but when she returns next weekend in Ohio, her return fight will not be televised.

Bellator has released the final four fight main card for next weekend’s Bellator 78, and Gurgel’s fight against Casey Noland will be a preliminary bout instead of being aired during the live show on MTV2.

Obviously, Gurgel is more than a little disappointed in the move because her face has been featured prominently on many of the Bellator posters promoting the event, which takes place less than an hour from her training center in Cincinnati, OH.

Gurgel is baffled and unsure why Bellator would put one of their champions on the undercard, but as of yet the promotion has offered no reason why.

“Why was I on the last undercard? It doesn’t make much sense, it does not make much sense to anybody else. People would say the same thing about any other female fight, but not only that the (Jessica) Aguilar and (Megumi) Fujii fight made the air, and hey I beat both of those girls,” Gurgel told MMAWeekly Radio on Thursday.

“On top of that, what champion of any organization or any promotion have you ever seen on an undercard? Especially if it’s a televised event and it’s not televised. It’s crazy to me.”

Bellator has featured other women’s bouts on the main card since Gurgel suffered a serious knee injury in 2011 that forced her out of action for the last year and a half. For some reason however, Gurgel will occupy a slot on the prelims as Bellator champion.

“No matter who my opponent is, it’s who I am, it’s the level that I’ve gotten to, it’s what I represent and what I bring to the table,” said Gurgel.

Despite the disappointment, Gurgel refuses to let the bad news bring her down ahead of her comeback fight next weekend in Dayton. She’s been waiting more than a year to finally strap on the gloves and get back to fighting, so main card, preliminary card or otherwise, Zoila Gurgel is going to give fans a show.

“This isn’t the first time, this is the second time, but I’m at a point where it’s not something I can control. I can’t make a phone call and say ‘hey I need to be on TV or be on the main card, this is not right’,” said Gurgel.

“But I can’t make those calls, and I’m going to do what I do, and that’s fight.”